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Most people have dental radiographs or x-rays during a checkup at the dentist. Whilst these radiographs use x-rays and so provide a dose of radiation to the patient, this dose is small and the risk associated with this radiation dose is minor . We all are exposed to radiation in the atmosphere which has an annual dosage of 2500 microsiverts . A dental x-ray examination only has a dose of 20 -40 microserverts so one can see how small the dose is .

However a dental examination can provide the dentist with a view of the teeth and help to diagnose "hidden caries". This is caries which is not visible to the dentist from the surface . The reason is often because caries can develop in small points on the surface but balloon out underneath to involve a big area and so the surface can look normal but decay can be present underneath. This type of decay can be seen on an xray and so this provides a helping hand to the dentist. The radio graph can show the bone levels around the tooth and so help to diagnose periodontal disease .
There are different types of radiographs . Bite wings are the smaller , commonly done x-rays which can be done on a new patient and then repeated according to need at later checkups. It usually just shows about four upper and four lower teeth. The x-rays can be compared to previous x-rays and differences noted.Another type of radiograph is an orthopantogram which shows all the teeth and the bone of the jaws. It is a bigger radiograph and shows all the teeth. However it also has a higher radiation dose and so is limited to when the need arises.It can show development of teeth , any abnormalities in the bone or surrounding tissues. It is thus helpful to see the extent of an abnormality or even to see if development is normal or before a procedure.
Peri apical x-rays provide detail of a tooth and can be done to help treatment such as during a root canal to see if the root system has been cleaned or if there are any obstructions . They are also used before an extraction to see if there are any difficulties .
X-ray examination of the entire mouth can often diagnose or pick up things not seen such as extra teeth in the bone or even the absence of developing teeth .
With the advent of digital radiography the dose of radiation has reduced even further and the speed at which an image is produced is less then 30 seconds and so radiography is a valuable aid to dentistry.

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